In my last post, I wrote about Outlive, a book that recommends a new approach to medicine that focuses on finding ways to stop killer diseases that may strike individuals before said diseases become unstoppable.

There is another part to this story as pointed out by Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, former health commissioner of New York City, in a recent NYTimes op-ed article.  Dr. Chokski reminds us that we should focus on not just how long we can live, but also on our “health span,” which means how healthy those years will be.  Rather than setting a goal to live to age 100, we should aim to engage fully in our lives while we can.  Other countries, such as Japan, Britain and Singapore are taking steps toward a better “health span”.  Why aren’t we?

My own experience is that primary care medicine has taken a huge hit.  Our general practitioners are undervalued and underpaid. Not surprisingly, there aren’t enough of them.  Changing that would be a step in the right direction.

I wish I knew what could make it happen.